Talk with Me

Love: Repentance

This summer, during a stop at my mother-in-law’s house, I happened on a book left behind by my sister-in-law called “Love is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community” written by Andrew Marin, who is the founder of the Marin Foundation, which has a focus of building bridges between people of faith and people in the GLBT community. It is a profound book that should be read by all. Over the last several decades there has been such a venomous and politicized stalemate between the two communities that hope of real engagement has been all but lost. Marin does what is kind and strong: He invites a new conversation.

For too long has the gay community has been hearing how sinful, depraved, gross, etc. the church at large considers them and that God is against them. The church has been hearing how much the gay community does not want or need the church and all that it stands for. Marin steps away from the old arguments of whose theology/hermeneutic is correct and invites gracious conversation and consideration from both parties.

This book resonates with me as much as it challenges me. I find that as much as I am a proponent, there is something hesitant within me. Conservative tendencies that throw out a lot of “yeah, but” in the face of recognizing a call to love and engage. Fear of not honoring what I know of God. Here’s the rub: I (and the church at large) have actually not been honoring God in the way that we have engaged (or not) with the gay community. But at least we haven’t been honoring the gay community either.

Crap.

After my initial engagement with these issues, my school hosted a movie discussion about the documentary “Through My Eyes” which simply interviews young people who loved God with their life as best as they knew how and started to have unwanted attraction for people of the same sex sometime in middle to high school time. And their experience from the churches they were a part of show a consistent, categorical failure of love. A failure of the very thing that is supposed to be a root of our communal identity. These young adults were removed from ministry teams, being told not to tell anyone, and had people backing away relationally.

We have fucked up. Royally.

And so Andrew Marin calls out in a loud voice to repent. To go a new way and do a new thing. To grieve our failure of love and to try again with a large dose of humility. And I am doing my best wrestle against my own self-righteousness and say yes to what Andrew is calling for.